Chapter II — Species of Special Concern 



Table 4. Counts of adult and juvenile (non-pup) Steller sea lions observed at rookery and haul-out trend 

 sites in seven Alaska subareas during June and July aerial surveys, 1976-1998 



Gulf of Alaska Aleutian Islands 



Eastern 



Central Western 



* n/d indicates incomplete or no survey data. 



Source: J. L. Sease, J. P. Lewis, D. C. McAllister, R. L. Merrick, and S. M. Mellow. 1993. Aerial and 

 ship-based surveys of Steller sea lions {Eumetopias jubatus) in Southeast Alaska, the Gulf of Alaska, 

 and Aleutian Islands during June and July 1992. U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA Technical 

 Memorandum NMFS-AFSC-17. 57 pp. 



The National Marine Fisheries Service has lead 

 responsibility for the recovery of Steller sea lions 

 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the 

 Endangered Species Act. At the recommendation of 

 the Marine Mammal Commission, among others, the 

 Service established the Steller Sea Lion Recovery 

 Team in 1990 and adopted the Steller Sea Lion 

 Recovery Plan in 1992 to help guide recovery efforts. 

 Key partners in the Service's recovery program 

 include the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the 

 North Pacific Fishery Management Council, and the 

 North Pacific Universities Marine Mammal Research 

 Consortium. The latter group, a consortium of 

 academic institutions in Alaska, British Columbia, 

 Oregon, and Washington, was established in 1992 at 



the request of fishing industries to investigate the 

 causes of the Steller sea lion decline. 



The Service, in cooperation with other agencies 

 and groups, has maintained an intensive research 

 effort to monitor the status of Steller sea lions and to 

 identify the cause or causes of the population decline. 

 As mentioned earlier, commercial fisheries are sus- 

 pected of contributing either directly or indirectly to 

 the decline. To mitigate possible effects of commer- 

 cial fisheries on Steller sea lions, the Service estab- 

 lished regulations in 1992 and 1993 to (1) prohibit 

 discharge of firearms within 91.4 m (100 yards) of a 

 sea lion, (2) prohibit (with some exceptions) the 

 operation of vessels within 3 rmii of major rookeries 

 in Alaska, (3) establish no-trawl zones within 10 nmi 



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